Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools

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A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools

The nation’s young Black males are in a state of crisis. They do not have the same opportunities as their male or female counterparts across the country. Their infant mortality rates are higher, and their access to health care is more limited. They are more likely to live in single-parent homes and less likely to participate in early childcare programs. They are less likely to be raised in a household with a fully employed adult, and they are more likely to live in poverty. As adults, Black males are less likely than their peers to be employed. At almost every juncture, the odds are stacked against these young men in ways that result in too much unfulfilled potential and too many fractured lives.

Much of this story has been told before. Still, there has been little work focusing specifically on the academic attainment of Black males in our schools and how it is contributing to the destructive pattern we see. This report tackles the issues head on by conducting a first-time analysis of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on how Black males are performing academically. We look at ourselves—the large central cities—most critically, because it is in our urban schools that nearly 30 percent of all Black males in the nation are educated.